


Need

by Kien Rugastelo (cein)



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26557960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cein/pseuds/Kien%20Rugastelo
Summary: “You really are amazing, Kuro-sama,” Fai commented with sincerity. The evening had been nothing less than perfect and Fai was feeling as though he’d be at ease for weeks, no matter what happened to come up. “How is it that a gruff guy like you can see all the way through me and know exactly what I need?”
Relationships: Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Need

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MisasBiggestFan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisasBiggestFan/gifts).



> A comment on [Temper](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554699) inspired this work, and I got it written and out in less than 3 hours. No beta, as always, but I decided not to sit on this one like I normally do, so there may be errors I haven't caught.

“You really are amazing, Kuro-sama,” Fai commented with sincerity. The evening had been nothing less than perfect and Fai was feeling as though he’d be at ease for weeks, no matter what happened to come up. “How is it that a gruff guy like you can see all the way through me and know exactly what I need?”

What Fai wasn’t prepared for was Kurogane’s honest answer: “It’s not much different from a fight.” Fai felt like the whole world slowed to a stop in the space of a breath while Kurogane considered his next words. “In battle, you need to be able to read the other person’s emotions, so you understand what steps to take. If you can’t read their emotional state, you can’t account for what they do next.”

Fai’s smile felt thin. Of course it was a fight — everything was a fight for Kurogane. He really should have known Kurogane would see even their relationship as a battle to be won. “I must be a terrible enemy to read, then.”

“Not an enemy,” Kurogane returned as if Fai were being deliberately dense, “A partner.” For the first time, since Fai brought the topic up, Kurogane glanced his way. Fai had thought he’d be used to the intensity behind Kurogane’s eyes by now, but somehow they shot through him every time, pinning him like a butterfly in a case. “If you can’t anticipate your partner, you won’t know when to step back or when they need additional support. If you can’t move together, you won’t last long. That’s what I was taught.

“Before,” Kurogane continued, again looking out across the courtyard, and Fai knew that he meant before their journey had begun — before they had both begun to change, “I never learned anyone. I was skilled enough that no one got in my way. I didn’t need a partner, so I never learned.”

“And do you need one now?” Fai asked, leaning his weight against Kurogane, as if that alone could demonstrate just how much Fai needed him — could persuade Kurogane to stay even if he didn’t truly need Fai. It was enough, though, to know that Kurogane had worked to learn his tells because he wanted to support him however he could. The feeling of it wrapped around him like a blanket against the cool of the night.

“If I want to stay the man I am today, I do.” Kurogane paused again, but Fai was used to this by now. Kurogane was just as deliberate in word as he was in action. His posture relaxed incrementally before he continued: “You restrain some ugly parts of me. I have to work to become the person you think I already am, and I think that was something I’ve needed for a very long time.” Fai wasn’t sure what parts of himself Kurogane thought weren’t quite up to snuff, but he didn’t want to ask and ruin the moment. It was nice to feel needed, just as good as it felt to be comfortable needing someone. “But also, I like seeing you happy, and I want to keep being the one to make you happy, as long as you will allow me to.”

“I think I can do that,” Fai murmured, taking Kurogane’s face between both his hands and pressing his lips to Kurogane’s forehead. Color rose to Kurogane’s cheeks and Fai couldn’t help but smile at how easily the man was embarrassed, even after all this time. “That is a role only my sweet Kuro-sama can fill after all. You keep bringing me happiness,” he bargained, “And I’ll keep seeing you as a better and better man, no matter how impossible my expectations may be, until you have no choice but to prove me right, over and over again.”

If you keep attending to my needs, I’ll attend to yours, Fai was saying, and it seemed the message made it across just fine, because Kurogane’s smile then was soft as he refilled Fai’s glass. “Even you must have limits.”

“You’d think so,” Fai countered, “But we haven’t found them yet, have we?”

In truth, they had. They’d found the limits of Fai’s cruelty long ago — the capacity to which he could inflict pain to preserve himself, the extent to which he could ignore the suffering of others to achieve his own goals — but those parts of Fai had been shallow to start, and Kurogane knew that the realest parts of Fai — the most honest parts of Fai — were depths they’d only just begun to explore. So instead, he just basked in the company with which he was graced, and the extent of the promise that now dangled between them like spider’s silk. “Not at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> [More notes](https://deforrest-bergan.tumblr.com/post/629768052244938752/need-kien-rugastelo-cein-tsubasa-reservoir)


End file.
